Machine for boxing cartridges or other elongated articles



D. R. P. JACKSON MACHINE FOR BOXING CARTRIDGES OR OTHER EjLONGATED ARTICLES May 21, 1946.

Filed Aug. 3, 1945 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 fiveni'or Don/1440. PJAC'KSOA/ 19 (061153. 65% $601124 May 21, 1946. D. R. P. JACKSON MACHINE FOR BOXING CARTRIDGES OR OTHER -ELONGATED ARTICLES Filed Aug. 3, 1943 4 Sheets-Sheet 2' Invenior flan/440 PJACZSG/V By [1) San c fliiorneys y 1946- D. R. P. JACKSON 2,400,695 MACHINE FOR BOXING CARTRIDGES OR OTHER ELONGATED ARTICLES Filed Aug. 3, 1943 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 May 21, 1946. D. R. P. JACKSON MACHINE FOR BOXING CARTRIDGES OR OTHER ELONGATED ARTICLES 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Aug. 3, 1943 Y in.. A i? Patented May 21, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,400,695 MACHINE FOR BOXING CARTRIDGES OR OTHER ELONGATEDARTI'CLES Donald Richard Patrick Jackson, Deptford; ilondon, England, assignor to Molins Machine Company Limited, London, E liglflild A Application August 3, 1943, Serial No. 497,265 In Great Britain July 24, 1942 4 Claims. (01. 226 -2) This invention concerns improvements inor relati'n-g to machines for boxing cartridges orother elongated articles and is applicable as described later by way of example to a machine in which cartridges are packed into rectangular boxes having loose lids, the cartridges being arranged in the boxes with their noses all pointing in the same direction, 1. e., directed towards the bottom of the boxes. The cartridges in question are rimless and have the :body portions of the cases substantially cylindrical, so the fact that all their noses are pointing in the same direction does not disturb the arrangement of the cartridges in the boxes, but it will be seen later that the cartridges could be disposed in the boxes with their bases directed towards the bottom, although the other arrangement is the more usual.

According to the present invention there is provided a machine for boxing elongated articles, comprising a feeding station for articles, a stack in which empty boxes are arranged to be placed one on. top of the other, an endless conveyor arranged tolower the boxes in succession past the feeding station and having thin blades which are arranged to enter between successive boxes of the stack, and a curved guide on the opposite side of the stack to that on which the conveyor blades are mounted on the conveyor, wherein the curved guide is so arranged that as the blades move round into the path of the succession of downwardly moving boxes, the blades deflect the boxes away from the conveyor andengage the rear of boxes in front of those they have so deflected, and wherein the curved guide is arranged to return each deflected box over the rear of a blade which has previously moved it to one side.

A reciprocating plunger may :be provided at the feeding station for feeding articles into the boxes, and means may be provided movable with the plunger to press the articles transversely to the direction of movement of the plunger to cause such articles to be properly positioned in the box. Guide-means may be provided movable with the plunger to open or distend the boxes in front of the feeding station, said guide means comprising a. slidable element mounted on the plunger and resiliently urged forwardly of the plunger.

Further according to the present invention there is provided (e. g., in a machine for boxing elongated articles), apparatus for feeding a succession of elongated articles, comprisin a chute down which a succession of contiguous articles move by gravity, and a remover-device located at theubottom to take the articles away in succession at; spaced intervals, said device comprising a crown cam having inclined faces before pusher faces, the inclined faces being so shaped that as the cam moves, an article moves forwardly against the cam face until it is engaged by a pusher face and conveyed laterally thereby, the arrangementbeing such that the contiguous articles can be moved down the chute at a controlled speed. In this way sudden intermittent movements ofthewhole mass can be avoided thus preventing damage in the case of delicate articles or the danger of detonation where-the articles are live cartridges. The cam may move cartridges on to a conveyor ('e. g.,.a chain) which conveys cartridges laterally in successionto a platform Where arow of side'by side cartridges is formed. From the platform the cartridges: may be moved into a box by a. reciprocating plunger and means may be provided movable with the plunger to press the will now be describedwith reference to the accompanying drawings which show a, machine for packing cartridges of, the kind used in submachine guns, into ,a cardboard box. In the drawings:

. Figure L is a frontelevation of the machine with afew parts in section. V

Figure 2 is a side elevation of Figure l partly in section.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the devices for inserting the cartridges in the boxes.

. Figure4 is a perspective view ofa box containing cartridges. I V

Figure 5 is a View to a larger scale,.similar to Figure'2,.but is a section on the line .rx, Figure l,'some of theparts shown in Figure 1 being omitted.

Referring to Figure 1', the machine is mounted on abase I" which normally'is'placed on the floor and in the interior of the basethereis'arranged driving mechanism '(notshown) consisting preferabiy of an electric motor having a sprocket wheel on which" a chain 2- runs and drives a. further sprocket wheel 3 'mounted'on acountershaft 4' journalled lira bearing 5' anda further bearing 6 formed in the frame 7 of the boxing machine which is fixed to the base l The cartridges C which as'may be seenin Figure 2 are substantially parallel for the major part of their length are-fed fro'mhoppers 9 and. Ill; twobeing provided From each hopper the cartridges are fed' through a guide tube I l which is, at least partly, of sinuous or S shape with the lower portion of the 8 so shaped that the cartridges are discharged therefrom in-a substantially horizontal direction,

see Figure 2. The purpose of this arrangement is partly to provide a discharge tube which offers a certain amount of resistance to the cartridge movement and thus keeps them under control,

and also to feed the discharged'bullets 'h'orizon-' tally so that they can be moved on to the'feeding later. The tubes II are slotted or cut away at one side as indicated by the reference I2 to facilitateinspection of the feeding process. A boxfeeding'conveyor described below is placed centrally between the hoppers 9 and [0. The conveyor comprises a track l3 which is formed by angle members 14 and Ill. The base of the conbut are prevented from entirely leaving the conveyor track by the curved guide IS. The blades continue their angular movement about the top sprockets of the chain conveyor and by the time the blades reach the portion of the conveyor track wherethe guide 19 terminates, the blades become arranged parallel to the side walls of the boxes and thus come to lie against the upper face of the box in front of that which they have pushed aside. The top sprockets 20 are supported by small brackets 2| attached to the frame i and will be referred to again when the driving mechanism is being described. During the down-, ward movement of the deflected box the guide l9 platform of the boxing device, as will appear veyor track (1. e., the left hand part as viewed in veyor pieces comprise thin blade-like'members l8 which are sufficiently long to extend from the track to a distance equal to, for example, half the thickness or depth of the boxes. When the conveyor is moving, the boxes are fed continuously downwards at such a rate that single rows of cartridges (e. g., 6 in a row) may be pushed one row after another into the open boxes as described later so'that each row lies on top of the preceding row. At the position along the track occupied by an operative conveyor blade there is a certain amount of space occupied by the walls of two neighbouring boxes and the conveyor blade, but the conveyor moves at such a rate that this occupied space does not offer any obstacle to the insertion of the rows of cartridges, particularly as the noses of the bullets aretapered.

It will be noticed from Figure 2 that the boxes are stacked one on top of the other (i. e., a side wall of one box is adjacent the side wall of the next box so that the plane of the box opening lies parallel to the conveyor track) and that when the boxes are moved downwardly by the conveyor the blades extend between adjacent boxes. The way in which the conveyor blades are caused to enter between the side walls of adjacent boxes, is as follows. In the magazine or stacker formed 7 by the angle members [4 and [5 which also form the conveyor track andin which" the boxes are returns it into its original path and thus each box in turn is moved back into contact with the parts of the members M which form the base of the track and behind the blade which has-pres? viously deflected it. Theendsof the parts 15 which form the guide I 9 are attached at 22 to the members l4. 7

As previously mentioned, cartridges from each hopper proceed nose foremost down the S shaped tube appertaining to said hopper, but at the end of the tube they are prevented from emerging engages with a cartridge emerging from the outlet end of the tube (e. g.,.the tube end is about /8" clear of the cam face) The cam is provided with a contour which is so curved that as the cam rotates, a cartridge maygradually emerge. from the tube under the pressure of'those above it and when the cartridge is quite clear 'of' the "tube a sharp step 24 on the cam parallel to the axis thereof sweeps the cartridge laterally out of alignment with'the tube and delivers itch to a conveyor which travels in the direction trans-. verse to that of the previous'axial movement of.

the cartridge. The shape of the remover device will be easily understood by acomparison of Figures 1 and 2 and will be seen to consist-of a-threestep crown cam, the steps 24 being parallel to the axis of the device. Check springs 31 are provided to control the movement of the tridges on to the chains; H .i

The conveyor which receives the cartridgesconsists of a pair of sprocket chain 25-arranged parallel to oneanother and supported'bysprocket wheels 26 and 21 the sprocket wheels 21 being the driving sprockets. ranged that the upper surfaces of the pair-"of chains constitute the supporting means for thecartridges which lie on the chains and are .restrained against free movement by the shape or the links. The cartridges lie on the curved sides of the links and owing to the rate of delivery fromthe feed tube andthe speed of the conveyor chains they are spaced apart on said chains by a distance substantially. as shownat the left hand on Fig. 1. The conveyor chains :inove downwardly from the deliver position at asmall angle el g.,

about 10) towards afeeding-platform 28 on -to which the cartridges are-discharged. ,"Iheiar! rangements forfeeding and conveying cartridges;

from each-of the hoppers 9 and 10 are identical.

The feeding platform 28 consists-of a plate suf-. ficiently wide to support six cartridges and isproe vided with a central rib 29 sothatrowsiofscar tridges from eachiconveyorlnieet'at lthe. rib and car- The conveyor is 'so ar-' 7 are temporarily held up. The-rib-is formed as'a cam on its top surface for a purpose described later, see Figure 3; When the leading cartridges are arrested by the rib, the-succeeding cartridges on the conveyor chain' will rapidly accumulate until there is a reserve of cartridges extending away from the feeding platform towards the feed tubes-as shown immediately to the left of the platform 28 in- Figure 1. tridges from piling up or riding overone another, top guides 30 having inspection apertures 31' are fixed to the side guides 32 of the chain conveyors." The side guides are spaced apart a-distance slightly gr'eater'than the length of a'car tridge and control the cartridges'laterally by en gaging their bases and-noses should they tend to become displaced on the chains.

--When-a-'row of six cartridges has been assembled-in this-manner on the feeding platform, a re--' cipro'cating plunger 33- suitably-slotted to clear the rib 29 and moving at right angles to the direction of movement of the cartridges, pushes the row off the platform and into one of the boxes on the chain conveyor I1; the box in question being the one which is just travelling by the feeding position. The timing arrangements are such thatthe boxes,-which move continuously, are lowered by a distance equal to the diameter of thecartridges at each stroke of the reciprocating plunger. i device is provided for causing each newly deposited row of cartridges to be settled or prop-'- erly adjusted in the box, the device being ar ranged to give a light pressing or dabbing movementon top of each row as soon as it arrives in position within the boxes. The dabbing device consists of a plate34 hinged at 35 to the reciprocating pusherand moving therewith. These parts are omitted from Figure 1. the plate is bent down and then upwardly again at 36, Figure 2, so that it can enter a'box without in any way disturbin the row of freshly deposited cartridges. The plate may, however, be

solid and slotted as shown at 38, Figure 3 for the same purpose so that asit moves forwardly with the plunger itis supported b its, end part which rides on top of the cam contour'of the central rib of the feeding platform. The slot or. bent part as the case may be is to ensure that only the end of.

the plate acts as the cam follower in order to secure the desired motion. The plate is guided 'in' this manner and presses or dabs the freshly de-. posited row of cartridgesand on the. return stroke box is brought to a position where its base is:

horizontal. see Figure 2 whe're'seve'ral succeeding bOXes are shown moving round the track. As the box enters the curved part 46 it is still supported by the blade 3 beneath it for a short time. The curvature of the part 40 then causes the lower portion of the box to be moved away from said blade and arms 75 associated with the lower sprockets 16 of the box conveyor and movable therewith push the upper part of the box clear of the following blade. As a box approaches the horizontal position it becomes deposited on a travelling belt conveyor 4| or the like which carries it away, during which operation the machine attendant places the lid or other covering mem- To prevent these car- The forward end of described. Another common type of box for holding' these cartridges is a box consistingof a bottom and a lid of substantially the same size as the-bottom, the lid being slid over the bottom at right angles to the plane of the box opening, the finished article having a double thickness of side walls formed by the walls of the bottom and top half respectively.

The various parts of the machine above de scribed are driven in the following-manner. The countershaft 4 is provided with a small gear wheel or pinion 42" which engages with a larger gear wheel 48 fixed on a shaft 44 journalled in bearings 45 formed at each side of the. frame 1. The couh'tershaftl has also fixed thereto a, sprocketwheel 46 on which runs a chain 41- which also plunger 33 through a :bellcrank lever pivoted at 5| in the frame 1.. The short arm 52 of the bellcranklever has a roller 53 mounted thereon which engages the cam and a spring 54 connected to the extremity 55 of the short arm and to a pin 56 fixed tothe frame 1 moves the bellcrank lever'in the opposite direction. The long arm 5! of the bellcrank lever is connected. to a pair of parallel rods 58 slidable in bushes in the frame I, the connection being by means of a, pin and slot device indicated at 5-9, Figure 2. The other ends of the parallel rods are joined by a strap 60 which is fixed to the reciprocating plunger and A- bevel gear wheel 61 is fixed on the shaft 44- and engages with a similar bevel gear wheel 62 mounted on a pin 63 fixed in the Irame'land arranged at right angles to the shaft 44. A sprocketwheel 64 fixed to the bevel gear wheel 63 is'connected by a chain 65 to a sprocket wheel 11, see only Figure 2. This sprocket wheel is fixed 0nthe driving spindle 66 of the cartridge conveyor to which the sprocket wheel 21' is also fixed, a similar arrangement being provided for each of said conveyors. In Figure 2 the spindle 66 cannot be seen as it is colinear with the rods- 58 and associated parts, :but the construction can be readily followed by comparing Figures 1 and 2. On the sprocket hub 61 which carries the idler sprocket wheels 26 of the cartridge conveyor and which is supported on a fixed pin 90, there is arranged a gear wheel 68 which engages with a. similar gear wheel 69 attached to the crown cam 23 which regulates the exit of the cartridges from the 8 tube. The cam and gear are supported on a, pin 9| fixed in a bracket 92.

On the shaft 44 there is also fixed a small sprocket wheel 10 (Figure 2) which is connected by a chain H to a larger sprocket wheel I2 on another shaft 13 journalled in brackets as shown in Figure 1, the brackets being attached to the frame I as shown in Figure 2. On this shaft there is fixed a, pulley 8| which drives the delivery belt 4| and also a small sprocket wheel 82 the article with the stack;

to a sprocket wheel 84 mounted Qnthe lower-shaft 850f the box conveyor. This last mentioned sprocket, wheel is rovided with a clutch 86, Figs ure. 1, shown herein as a ball clutch which will disengage in the event of a jam, but it is mainly provided for another purpose. The box conveyor naturally moves very slowly and in the event of any stoppages of the'machine and in particular when the machine is being freshly started it is desirable that the speed of this, conveyor shall be increased to bring the. boxes rapidly to the filling position. A hand knob 81, Figure 1, is provided On the shaft 85 and the knob may be turned manually to advancethe box conveyor as necessary, in which case, theballclutch is disengaged ;against the action ,of its spring.

The delivery belt 4| .passes around an idler pulley 88 and between angle guides 89 which are fixed to a table 14, the latter being in turn fixed to the brackets 80. .11

It will be seen that by feeding the, bullets base firstlfrom the hoppers they may be pushed into the boxes in. the reverse direction. What I claim as my'invention and desire to secure .by Letters Patent is: i 1. In amachine for feeding articles, the combi nation with a downwardly extendin first guide in which articles are stacked in superposed relation, and means to lower the articles so stacked at a controlled rate, said last named means comprising an endless conveyor having blades ar-.

ranged to extend-between successive articlesat one'sideof the stack, and a second .guideat the, other side of the,,stack having a portion approaching said stack in a downward direction, said conveyorand second guide 'bein so shaped. and disposed that as the blades move successively into the path of movement of the stacked articles; each blade deflects an article away from the conveyor and toward the second guide, and over-' lies the article immediately preceding the article so, deflected, the stack-approaching portion of said second guide being shaped and disposed to. engage and displace the deflected article across the rear face of the deflecting bladetorealign 2. In a machine for feeding articles, the com-- bination with acdownwardly extending first guide in which articles are stackedinsuperposed rela tion, means ;to lower the articles so stacked ata controlled rate, said lastv named means comprising an endless conveyor having blades arranged to extend betweensuccessive articles at one side of the stack, and a second guide at the other, side of the stack having a portion appreaching said stack in a downward direction,

said conveyor and second guide being so shaped anddisposed that as the blades move successively into the pathof movement of the stacked articles, each blade deflects an article away from the conveyor and toward the second guide, and overlies the article immediately preceding the article so deflected,.the stack-approaching por-.

tion, of said second guide being shaped and disposed to engage and displace the deflected article across the rear face of the deflecting blade to realignthe article with the stack, the lower end of said first guide being curved to direct the articles generally horizontally, and means driven in timed relation with said conveyor for displacing successive articles so directed away from the path of movementof the succeeding blade. f I 3. In a machine for feeding articles, the combination with a downwardly extending first guide in which articles are stacked in superposed relation, and means to lower the articles so. stacked at a controlled rate, said last named means com prising an endless conveyor having thin blades arranged to extend between successive articles at one side of the stack, and a second guide at the otherside of the stack to limit displacement of saidarticles away from said conveyor, said second guide having a portion approaching said stack in a downward direction, said conveyor and secondguide being so disposed that as the blades i deflected article to alignment with the stack by displacing the article across the rear face of the. deflecting blade. 7 1

. 4. In armachine for boxing articles, the combination with a downwardly extending first guide in which. empty boxes having an open side are stacked. in superposed relation with the open sides facing outwardly of the stack, and means to lower the boxes so stacked. at, a controlled rate, said last named means comprising an endless conveyor having thin blades arranged to exv tend between successive articles at one side of the stack, a; second guide at the other side of the stack to limit displacement of said boxesaway from said conveyor, said second guide having a portion approaching said stack in a down- .ward direction, said conveyor andsecond guide having a portion so shaped and clisposedthat as the blades move successively into thepath of movement of the stackedboxes, each blade deflects a box awayfrom the conveyor and toward the second guide, and engages -the-rear ofithe box immediately preceding the box so deflected, the stack-approaching portion of said second; guide being shaped and disposed to return the deflected box to alignment with the stack by displacing thebox across the rear face of the deflecting blade, and article delivery means disposed below said second guide and adjacent the open, sides of the stacked boxes for delivering articles into the boxes. 

